Bonds
by Aaronna
Summary: This was a collab with a writer from Archive of our own. The bond between friends had never been so clear. Hurt!Merlin Disclaimer:We do not own Merlin


Bonds: A Merlin fan fiction by Flores_Saltantis and Aaronna

**%# #%**

Arthur had been looking for Merlin everywhere. Gaius claims the boy is out picking herbs, but Arthur checked all the taverns anyway. After that, the prince regent went to the stables to get a horse and find the servant. When he arrived he found that Merlin had already cleaned the place and Merlin's horse saddled and panicked.

Upon seeing the prince the horse calmed, walked over, grabbed his sleeve in its teeth and pulled the arm inside the cloth to the horn of the saddle, as if asking him to get into the saddle. Arthur knew that this horse liked no one besides Merlin, so this worried him. The horse and the boy had an undeniable bond.

After worrying for a few minutes, Arthur mounted the beast. The horse lead him quickly out of the city following a path that the prince hadn't even known existed. Once outside of the city the horse took off at a full gallop. It was almost an hour later that the beast slowed and went off the usual path. A few minutes later, Merlin's prone form came into view.

Merlin looked terrible. He was unconscious, lying on his side in a patch stones. There was a large swelling on side of Merlin face that had connected with the rocks. The arm underneath his head appeared to be broken and one of his legs was in an unnatural position. Luckily none of the rocks had punctured the skin, but the amount of bruising worried Arthur greatly. The boy's entire side was one giant mass of bluish-black, making injured ribs a guarantee rather than a likelihood. It was only Merlin's strong, steady breathing that kept Arthur from assuming that they were broken.

Looking around, Arthur pieced together what had happened. There was a large patch of trampled plants with a dead snake in the middle. This was about two yards from where Merlin was lying. From the position Merlin was in when Arthur had found him, it was clear that Merlin had thrown off and was knocked out on impact. Though Arthur was mildly curious why the horse had trampled the reptile instead of running from it. The thoughts of the horse brought Arthur to another issue.

Given that it had taken an hour to get here at a full gallop, it would have taken the horse about three quarters of an hour to have gotten to Camelot, without a rider, after the incident. Add to that the time it had taken for Arthur to find and then decide to go with the horse, that meant Merlin had been injured and unconscious for at least two hours. That was not a good thing.

**%# #%**

At first Arthur was not sure how he was going to get Merlin back to Camelot. The boy was a massive on his right side, so how was Arthur going to get him up onto the horse without aggravating one of the servants many injuries. As he was pondering this, the horse in question came over and kneeled down beside Merlin.

Now Arthur had been around horses for as long as he could remember and this was only the second time he had ever seen a horse kneel to help their rider. The other time had been when he was twelve. Sir Oswald was the oldest knight in service, he was sixty-seven at the time. Arthur was a squire at the time and had accompanied a small group of the older knights for a short patrol. There was a skirmish and Oswald had taken an arrow to the thigh. The horse had been Oswald's mount for nearly a decade, so it had a deep connection with its rider. But what had just happened in front of Arthur, that was different.

Merlin had had three different horses since coming to Camelot. The first had been old and had died during Merlin's second winter in the city. The second had been taken by bandits during a patrol. It has returned later, but it was half lame from mistreatment. She was sent to a lord to uses as a breeding mare. This newest horse had been one of those deemed untrainable by the stable master. Well, that was until Merlin.

Sadie was one of the meanest horses Arthur had ever met. He would bite anyone, kick those who fed and tended him, and would throw anyone who tried to saddle him. Heaven forbid you try to get a bit in his mouth! But after Merlin had… Well, if he was honest with himself, he had no idea what Merlin had done to gain such loyalty from the brute. But whatever it was, Arthur was glad that it allowed him to gently get Merlin seated atop the beast.

**%# #%**

It took nearly three hours to get back to Camelot at a pace that didn't cause Merlin to groan in pain. At least five hours after the he had hit his head and Merlin still hadn't regained consciousness. When they reached the citadel, Arthur had a few guards take Merlin to Gaius and told them to inform the physician that the boy had been unconscious for at least five hours. Despite how much he wanted to go with them so he see that Merlin was being treated, he had something he needed to do first.

Turning around, Arthur suddenly felt even more terrible. Sadie looked like he was about to collapse. The poor thing had made that trip four times that day. He had not had water in at least four hours and had been ridden fairly hard for most of it. And those last three hour he had been carrying two men. Knowing that if the horse was not tended to properly, he would get ill. And given his reputation, it was doubtful that anyone would even try to care for the exhausted beast.

All of the sudden it dawned on Arthur. Merlin and Sadie were very similar in one key aspect. They both hated to be bossed around. Merlin rebelled with his banter, but Sadie couldn't talk so he took his temper out on those around him. It was in that respect that Arthur had a characteristic in common with the horse. With that in mind, Arthur began babying Saidy in much the same way that Merlin treated him when he was starting to fall under the weather.

**%# #%**

It took a lot longer than Arthur had expected, but he was finally satisfied that he had seen to Sadie's need. He had made sure he drank a good bit of slightly warm water, rubbed him down, brushed him, massaged the knots out of his shoulders and neck, fed him, fluffed his bedding, and covered his back with a thick blanket to ward off the autumn chill. Nodding his acceptance that he had do a good job, Arthur turned to see two opened mouthed stable boys and the stable master.

"Sire… Wha.. How?!" the stable master looked like the slightest breeze would knock him right over.

Arthur smiled slightly. "He prefers to be asked. And since he is the only reason my servant was found, I want him treated with the utmost respect. Now if you will excuse me, I have an idiot to check on."

The look on their faces was so priceless that Arthur decided to tell the story to Merlin as soon as he was back on his feet. With that thought in mind, the prince regent set off to Gaius's chambers.

**%# #%**

It turned out that Merlin had a mild concussion, two cracked ribs, four bruised, the farm was cleanly broken in two places and he had badly twisted his knee. It was amazing that that was all that there was. Gaius said, while staring sternly at Arthur, that with how cleanly the breaks in the arm were that Merlin would likely have full use of it in two months, but should still not carry too much. As for the knee, Gaius said only time would tell if Merlin would have a limp.

**%# #%**

After two weeks, Gaius allowed Merlin to walk around by himself. By this time Merlin's knee was only somewhat sore, but Gaius was still cautious. Merlin, afraid Gaius would change his mind. Walked quickly to the stables to check on Sadie.

No one had mentioned the horse since he had woken up, so he had no idea if he had gotten home, and if he had, who we tending him. Merlin knew everyone was scared of those teeth, but Sadie was a big softy under that temper, much like a certain prince. So when Merlin walked into the stable and saw said prince brushing the horse, Merlin's mind reeled.

In unison, Arthur and Sadie stiffened and turned to see a gob snapped Merlin.

"Ah Merlin! Glad you could finally join us. Does Gaius know you are outside of the castle?" Arthur's had just a hint of teasing and concern.

"I just wanted to see if Sadie was being cared for. Usually, he won't let anyone besides me get near him." Merlin responded sheepishly.

"Apparently I am the exception. He let me tend him after we found you and he has only let me do it since." Arthur knew where this statement would lead, that was why he used it.

"What do you mean "we found you"? Sadie was with me when it happened." Arthur had to hold back a grin at Merlin's confusion.

"He came back to Camelot and found me. If he hadn't, I never would have found you. He led me right to you." Arthur said, keeping his face neutral.

"Please tell me you took your own horse." Merlin's voice had a touch of panic to it.

Arthur was confused by this, but replied anyway. "He asked me to ride him. You had been missing for a while, so I mounted him and let him pick the path and speed."

Merlin walked over and placed one hand under Sadie's chin while he rubbed circles on the horse's forehead.

"You stubborn idiot... You could have gotten yourself hurt carrying the both of us." Merlin mumbled with a sigh. "Thank you for going through that pain for me."

"Merlin? What are you talking about?" Arthur's concern had now shifted from the servant to the horse.

"One of the reason's Sadie is so mean tempered is due to how he was trained. He was born with a fused disk right here in his back." Merlin gently rubbed the spot in question. "While he was being trained, the disk was aggravated by the saddle, causing his a good bit of pain. I figured that out and dosed him with a draught. I helped it as best I could and I saddle him in such a way that there isn't much pressure there." At the end there, Merlin began fiddling with the frayed end of his sling.

Arthur came over and saw the spot in question. There was a bulge about the size of a flattened fist just below where the saddle horn would be. "How on earth did the breeder and trainers not notice that...?"

Merlin shook his head. "I don't know, but that is why he and I get along. What did you do that makes him trust you?"

A smile appeared on Arthur's face. "He let me ride him as soon as I walked into the stables. When we got back he was exhausted. I knew he needed to be properly tended or he would get sick, so I used my squire training and gave him the full treatment. He got warmed water, sweetened grains, a rubdown, a massage, a brushing, fluffed straw, and a blanket."

Merlin's face stayed emotionless, but his eyes danced. "You can do all of that, yet you need me to dress, feed, and clean up after you. Who is really the lazy sod here?"

**%# #%**

Merlin had been gone for two hours, so Gaius sent Gwen off to look for him. She asked those she passed if they had seen the servant, none of them had until she came across Sir Leon. When he was asked, he smiled and asked her if she had checked the stables. He refused to say anything more, but his smile grew.

She practically ran to the stables, but stopped at the door. Peeking inside she saw Merlin sitting in a chair talking as Prince Arthur brushed his servant's horse. See these two like this, there was no denying their bond. Smiling, Gwen reported back to Gaius.

**%# #%** The End **%# #%**


End file.
